A week after enduring its first loss of the year, Chadwick bounced back at home with a 31-19 Prep League victory Saturday over Pasadena Poly.

Chadwick’s rushing game was limited in its previous contest – a 43-7 loss at Rio Hondo Prep – but the Dolphins used that same facet to return to form.

Sam Smith and Trevor Niemann, the Dolphins’ running back duo, scored on Chadwick’s first three drives to provide a 21-0 cushion with 6:19 left in the first half.

Chadwick (7-1, 2-1) had to gamble on a couple of instances in the opening half to reach that lead.

Smith scored on runs of 7 and 20 yards, the latter set up after Chadwick converted a fourth-and-7 from the Poly 33-yard line.

Niemann scored on a 24-yard catch of a pass from Hank Trumbull, also on a fourth-and-7 play.

Niemann finished with 116 yards on eight carries, and 46 yards on three catches. He also completed both of his two passes for 19 yards.

Smith had seven carries for 51 yards.

Chadwick’s four running backs amassed 241 yards combined.

Aside from Niemann, Chadwick used two other quarterbacks in Trumbull, a sophomore, and senior Jordan Agnew.

Agnew finished 3-for-10 for 36 yards. And Trumbull completed four of five passes for 37 yards and a touchdown. He had one interception, in the fourth quarter. It was Trumbell’s only pass attempt of the second half on the team’s final drive.

Chadwick’s defense also was pivotal in handing Poly (5-3, 2-1) its first loss since September.

Poly earned just one first down through its first three drives and it punted after all three. The Panthers scored on their fourth drive though, with seven seconds left in the first half.

Poly’s Douglas Pinsky scored on a 5-yard run, but the PAT was blocked.

Late in the fourth, Jack Porter caught a 5-yard TD pass, but the Panthers failed to complete a two-point conversion pass.

The game ended prematurely when Poly sophomore running back/linebacker Jackson Allan sustained a head injury.

It wasn’t clear when Allan absorbed the tell-tale hit, but he was said to have complained about a headache just moments after Poly’s second TD with 3:27 left in the game.

It’s believed Allan fell into a coma after collapsing on the sidelines. He stopped breathing momentarily but showed early signs of improvement.

The game was called as an ambulance escorted Allan to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

— Mario Aguirre

Animo falls short

Dwayne West had 135 yards and a touchdown rushing, but Animo lost to Bloomington Christian, 21-13, in a San Joaquin League game at Bloomington Christian.

Ivan Rodriguez had three receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown for Animo (4-4, 3-1), which fell to second in league. Rodriguez also had a 56-yard reception that set up West’s 5-yard touchdown plunge.

Ricky Cervantes had an interception to spark the defensive effort for Animo. Bloomington Christian moved to 4-0 in league.

Rare tie for Stingrays

Joshua Jordan rushed for 245 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries as Pacific Lutheran tied host Cornerstone Christian/Wildomar, 36-36, in double overtime in an 8-man Majestic League game on Friday night.

The game was still tied after two overtime possessions for each team, and league rules only allow two overtimes.

Pacific Lutheran (2-4-1, 1-1-1 in league) stopped Cornerstone Christian (4-4, 3-0) on the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter, then drove 79 yards with Jordan getting most of the carries. Jordan finally scored on a 20-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 36-36. The Stingrays went for a two-point conversion but came up short.

Josh Hopper had 12 carries for 73 yards and caught a touchdown pass for Pacific Lutheran, which would have an outside shot at a CIF playoff berth with a win over Marywood-Palm Valley on Friday at Home Depot Center.